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Ranpo’s not the kind to prepare for worst case scenarios, half confident enough in himself to know that he will be able to find his way out of them and half “I don’t wanna jinx it” with the right amount of paranoia and stress about it. Yet, he wouldn’t say he is not a prepared person, especially when it comes to things he likes and truth is, there’s nothing he likes more than spending time with Poe. Sure, he left Poe to do the whole “getting to the aquarium” part, but he also prepared their route inside the aquarium and made sure to learn enough about each fish to impress the other. He’s even gone out of his way to learn about the actual building in hopes Poe’s architect side will like his rambling about it…
That’s why the closed doors, turned down lights and “CLOSED DUE TO SANITARY EMERGENCY” sign on the entrance has Ranpo stuck in place as if the worst thing ever just happened. Forget dealing with criminals on a daily basis, now this is an actual worst case scenario. He’s tempted to reach into the pocket of the nicest pair of pants he owns, which he ironed for today for the first time in years, and put his glasses on to make sure he is reading it right.
“Oh, well…” Poe’s voice makes him move his gaze from the door to his face. “Should we go somewhere else?”
“But I wanna go here.” He tells him through gritted teeth.
“It’s closed though. Probably dangerous as well since it’s an emergency.”
He knows all of that, but that only makes him feel worse. It’s hard enough to deal with his plan being ruined like that, much more knowing his frustration was partly irrational.
“We were meant to go here.” He complains again.
His hands close in fists and he has to fight the urge to do anything that would harm him just to relieve emotions. He’s divided between the urge to scream, cry or run away and truth is he doesn’t wanna do any of that in front of Poe, but what is he meant to do? He’s been anticipating their date for weeks now; Heavens (and Yosano) know he’s spent half of the month talking about it… What is he meant to do now?
A cold hand bigger than his closes around one of his fists and moves till his fingers loosen up to hold him. With his thumb, Poe makes small circle movements on top of his knuckles to soothe Ranpo in a way that he’s surprised works and which he swears would probably not work if it wasn’t Poe doing it. He tries to take a deep breath as he lets himself be relaxed by his boyfriend.
“Should we go have lunch somewhere?” He suggests this time. “Or maybe just going on a walk?”
“Sure.” It comes off colder than he means to, so Ranpo tightens his grip around the other’s hand in a way that he hopes proves he isn’t mad. “Can you take us to the train station?”
“Oh, of course!”
There’s a shake on Poe’s voice that makes him look up in surprise, which he hopes is not apparent on his face. It’s there when he starts to wonder whether Poe had also been anticipating their date as much as him. His heart clenches when he thinks of both of them inside, telling the other the same fish facts, and he realises that now he will never find out whether Poe did his research as well. Yet, he decides not to think of the bittersweetness of the lost memories, but of the bittersweetness of looking at his boyfriend’s face and finding that he’s disappointed on how the day turned out as well. They’re both together on this ruined date, but they’re also together on the battle to fix it, right?
“Is there anywhere you wanna have lunch at?” How he manages such a long sentence when his throat feels so raspy from the stress of having his plans ruined escapes him. However, the emotion quickly turns into happiness when he sees how the other raises his head in a way that moves his bangs from his eyes and allows Ranpo to witness how his eyes shine with joy.
“I’m so glad you asked!” Ranpo doesn’t need to put on his glasses to guess that means he had planned to take him to a specific place in advance. “I found a place that sells pancakes and look how nice they seem!” He pulls his phone to slide a bunch of fluffy pancakes covered in multiple toppings that all seem like heaven. “I think you would like it! But, of course, do tell me if you would prefer somewhere else!” He’s freed his hand from Ranpo’s grip but it doesn’t matter because Ranpo is quick to grab it again when the other starts to shake his hands nervously.
“I would love to go anywhere with you.”
…
He would love to go anywhere with Poe, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate the train. They managed to find a seat and their wagon is way more empty than it could have been, but he still hates the loud noise of it hitting the rails and the way the seat’s covering fabric feels on his back. Plus, he’s still sad about the way their aquarium plans went, even if he’s trying not to show it for Poe’s sake.
Truth is, Ranpo is excited about trying out the pancake café the other showed him. The pictures looked anything short of amazing, but that’s nothing compared with the fact that his boyfriend looked multiple places to take him to and chose it. Just knowing Poe had been planning like that makes him feel special and causes his heart to flutter. But he can’t shake off his head how that’s not what his plan was. They were going to visit the aquarium, he was going to show off and then they were going to eat. But now they were skipping the most crucial step of an aquarium date! Ranpo hates having his plans fail, but this was the one plan he never wanted to fail and it had ended up being ruined for something he had no control over. Without him noticing, one of his hands moves to his head and grabs a fist of hair strongly as a way to relieve stress.
“Let’s refrain from doing that, dear.” Once more, Poe’s hands are around his, trying to force him to let go of his hair. Ranpo looks at him: Poe has been distracted, doing something on his phone for the past minutes, so he would have never expected him to notice he was doing poorly. It’s comforting to be reminded that his distress is noticed and fought.
“Sorry.” He whispers. “Still sad.”
They are not usually clingy when in public, but Poe makes an exception and moves to sit closer to the other.
“Do you wish to talk about it? There’s a long time till we get there.”
“Aren’t you doing something on your phone?” He mumbles, not wanting to disrupt the other’s activities.
“It totally can wait, love. It’s not as important as you.” Poe tells him caringly. “Nothing is.”
“I just don’t know, Ed…” He talks lowly, pressing his head close to his boyfriend’s chest and hiding it there. “I had prepared a lot in advance, I really wanted this to be the perfect day for you and now it just feels like you’re going to spend our date making sure I don’t break down.”
He feels the other moving a bit, adjusting in the seat, as he waits for the soothing reply he is expecting from his boyfriend.
“Uhm, dear… Can you repeat, please?” He can hear in his voice the nervousness of whenever he misses the important part of a sentence or he forgets the first part by the time the quote ends. It makes Ranpo smile against his chest, comforted by the sense of safety that comes with seeing a regular habit happen in a foreign environment, before separating from Poe’s perfumed (the fragrance is new… Did he buy a new one for today?) vest.
“I had planned a bunch of things.” Ranpo starts again, sure that the only reason the other didn’t get his words earlier was because he barely vocalised. “I wanted you to have the best day ever and now I turned our date into you making sure I don’t have a meltdown.”
“Oh, my dear…” A hand makes his way to the back of his head again, but this time it’s Ed’s and it’s there to play with his hair in a way that has Ranpo leaning into it without noticing. “I don’t feel like you’re… Monopolising?” He looks at him as if checking if he got the word right, to which Ranpo nods. “I don’t feel like you’re monopolising our date. I am making sure you don’t have a meltdown, but I would do that in any setting no matter what. Your happiness is what matters the most to me.” He clears his throat, blushing before speaking again. “Your happiness is what makes my days the best days ever.”
“Thank you, Ed…”A new fear assaults him as soon as he is done thanking his boyfriend. “I don’t want you to feel like I don’t like your plan of going to eat somewhere. I really want to try that place, I was going to suggest going out after the aquarium myself… I promise! But I wanted today to be special because of the aquarium, not special because of something else.” He cuts himself off with a groan and moves, arching his back and covering his head with his hands. “Ugh, I sound so fucking horrible. I am sorry, I know it’s not like the aquarium matters more than you or something, but I haven’t visited in maybe a decade and I thought it would be so magical to be there with you but now I am not going there with you. And I love being with you, being with you is the best, but I wanted the best to happen in the aquarium and not in the train and…”
“Shh, I know you’re frustrated.” The other soothes him. “I am as well, darling. That doesn’t mean any of us is horrible. It’s only natural to want things to go as planned, and I understand. I promise your frustration won’t make me upset, dear. Don’t fear that, alright?”
“Alright…” He is pressing his head against Poe’s chest again. His new cologne smells really good and it makes him not want to move from there again. Ed’s body is always comforting against his, even in the most stressful moments. That’s how he knows he’s the perfect boy for him. “How long till the train stops?” He asks, having no idea where they’re even stopping. He makes sure to pronounce the words clearly this time.
“Hm… At least three quarters of an hour, I’m afraid. How come you ask?” He gives Ed no answer but some comfort-born noise against his body. “Are you tired?” Ranpo nods. “All that sugar is messing up your sleep schedule, isn’t it?”
“Maybe.” His mouth turns into a smile, knowing that his beloved could never say no to a Ranpo nap.
“Rest a bit until we get there, will you?”
“No need to ask twice.”
…
“That took forever.” Ranpoe giggles after the waitress has left their table. “It truly is a pest to choose between great options.”
“That’s just because you wouldn’t let me order one of each of all the ones you liked. You know I would if you told me to…”
“And waste your beautiful money?” Ranpo pretends to gasp dramatically. “When you should be saving for our retirement?”
“ Your retirement. I don’t have a job to retire from anymore.” The other jokes.
“Phew, that’s great for me because I doubt my salary is going to get me the retired life I dream of.”
“Oh, what are your expectations for it?” Poe sounds genuinely curious, which almost makes Ranpo sorry for disappointing him.
“Heh, I just made that up.” He says. “I would hate retirement, come on. Sure, I barely do anything at work or whatever… And I heard that.” He says, making sure the quiet “nepotism” Ed just let out doesn’t go unnoticed. “And when I do something it’s a literal life or death situation, almost always a death situation for some people, and all… But I wouldn’t feel alive otherwise! Tell me you get it!” He says taking a sip from the drink the waitress had them order earlier.
“Hm…” Poe pretends to be thinking for a bit. “I am afraid I don’t get it at all, my darling. I must confess I feel much more alive being unemployed than, you know, employed by the Guild.”
“Right, forgot you only joined because you love me so, so much…”
“Don’t be silly! They did pay really well and…” His flustered face is cute, Ranpo thinks. “And that was not the point of the conversation! Where were we?”
It’s then when the waitress comes back with their food: two plates of pancakes, one with melted chocolate and a ball of ice-cream that Poe had coerced him onto adding (he really wanted it, sure, but he didn’t really want to pay the extra) for himself an a plate of cheesecake-flavoured ones for Poe.
“I think we were talking about how you are going to spend all your money on finding me the best nursery home in Yokohama.” He speaks through the excitement of biting into the food, picking up his cutlery as he talks. “Hm… Are you ever going to find a job?” He says, taking a piece of pancake to his mouth and then raising a hand to cover his mouth when he speaks with it full. “Sorry, too direct.”
“Don’t you worry about that, love.” Poe tells him, eating from his plate as well and making a cute face when he finds out he likes it a lot. “I tried to write for some magazines and newspapers but to no avail… Made them all face legal problems because my ability would work on the readers sometimes… This is really good, want a bite?” He says, showing the plate to Ranpo.
“Sure, try this one.” He copies him. “What about fanfiction commissions? Some people would kill for your ability combined with some “your name” stories.”
“I am not good at romance. And I heard that.” He quotes his boyfriend’s words from before as soon as he registers Ranpo muttering a quick “arguable.” “But… It does remind me of something… Would you like to come back to mine later? I wrote something and I really, really want you to read it.”
“You know I would read anything from you.” And it’s true! Other novels are all too easy to predict for him to enjoy. “What is it?”
“It’s a surprise!”
“Come on, Ed…!” He tries to kick him gently under the table.
“I said it’s a surprise! But I am sure you will particularly love this story, my love.”
…
The way back to Poe’s house is usually one he really enjoys, mostly because knowing he’s going to his boyfriend’s place outweighs most negative thoughts or feelings public transport might put him through.
“Can you tell me now?” He insists while their train takes them to their destination.
“Can not."
“Please…!” He’s grabbing onto Poe’s arm and shaking him slightly, trying to annoy him into telling him. “Come on, come on! You wanna tell me so bad, you wanna tell me so, so, so bad…”
“I’m afraid that’s not going to work, my darling.” The other laughs. “It’s only 5 more minutes till we get there, why not wait?”
“It’s 5 minutes to the train station, but just imagine how long it is to get to your apartment…”
“Barely 5 more minutes, love.”
“That’s 10 whole minutes, tell me now!” He complains. “Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me…”
“Is that how you plan on spending the next 10 minutes?”
“The next worst 10 minutes of my life, you mean?” Ranpo asks. “That’s exactly how, thank you for asking.”
“Oh, come on… If you wanna know so bad, I am sure you could have ultra-deducted it alrea…”
“Of course I could have, don’t you doubt that!” He only realises he’s cut the other off after doing it, but Poe’s expression seems more curious than upset, as if asking why he hasn’t found out yet what his surprise is about. “But that’s no fun! I want you to tell me.” One thing is outwitting his boyfriend, which can be fun, and another thing is out-annoying his boyfriend, which would be funnier.
“You’re cute.” The words shock him for a moment, causing him to finally quiet down for a bit. Ed giggles at that and he can feel himself blushing. “Hm… You said you hadn’t been to the aquarium in a whole decade, is that right?”
Ranpo nods, not sure why Poe would think he isn’t right about that but not minding it.
“I went as a kid, I know I really liked it… But it has probably changed a lot and I wanted to see that with you.” He doesn’t want to get sad over this again, so he tries to change the topic. “When… When was the last time you went to the aquarium?”
“Me? Oh, I’m glad you asked… Ages ago as well.” Poe looks up as if trying to remember it. “It was with my school, we had a huge school-trip, from Massachusetts to Georgia. What’s there to see in Georgia?, you might ask… Not much beside nature, honestly, but they do have a huge aquarium. Used to be the biggest in the world, I believe. I must have been… 17? 18? When I went.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Completely. It was so, so pretty. They had these 2 massive and majestic whale sharks… I am sure you would have loved them.”
“There are no whale sharks in Yokohama’s. Only in Okinawa, I think…” He knows that because he did all his research, but Poe doesn’t need to know that he googled all of that at 3 a.m. last week. “More than 8 metres long. Almost 9.”
“Really?” Ranpo nods strongly. “I don’t know how long Taroko is.”
“Who?”
“The biggest whale shark in Georgia’s aquarium.”
“Ohh…”
“I wish I could take you there with me… Oh! This is our stop, Ranpo, let’s go.” He tells him as they stand up. “Only 5 more awful minutes to go, right?”
“Right.” Ranpo mumbles as he clings to his boyfriend’s arm.
…
“Was it so bad?”
“Worst 5 minutes of my life, I’m afraid.” Ranpo complains, dramatically and not meaning it. Their conversation had turned into curiosity over Poe’s school years and he had enjoyed it very much on their way to his house. “Oh, Ed, I’m afraid my body won’t be able to take it… If I don’t have any candy to compensate for the horrors I just endured…”
“I bought your favourite last week, they’re on the counter. Go get them while I go print the manuscript.”
Print? It’s not usual for Poe to print things, so the word catches his attention. Normally, he either writes manually or just shows Ranpo his computer with the document open. Plus, his works are usually long, and it doesn’t seem like he would waste time, paper, ink and money on getting them printed. However, he is too busy finding his favourite chocolates and opening one to think more about it. He’s only finished two of them when Poe comes back with merely 2 papers between his hands.
“So short?” He wonders, tilting his head. “Did the printer break while you were at it or…?”
“Oh, let’s just say this one’s just a short story! I’m sure you’ll find out I’m quite good at those.”
Poe hands him his work right after he cleans his hands on a towel. He’s excited, finally able to read his surprise and not sure what to expect. It should be a mystery, but he doubts the other would have hidden that, since it’s just his usual. He rushes to read it, really wanting to know, but he barely manages to register the first two or three words before he finds himself feeling fuzzy, dizzy and out of place, his body moving but his mind not knowing where to. It’s only when he feels the coldness of a black-tiled floor that doesn’t match the one at Poe’s house. Huh? Did he just use his ability on him?, he wonders. They do play with it sometimes, but never without him knowing in advance, so what’s going on? He stands up, having fallen to the ground after being transported into the story, and his eyes are met with electric blue, water-filled tanks everywhere and hundreds or perhaps thousands of fish swimming inside.
“What the…?”
“Ranpo!” He hears Poe’s voice beside him and soon, the taller man is standing by his side and grabbing his shoulder. “Did the fall hurt?”
“Ed, where is this? What’s this about?” He finds it hard to look into the other’s eyes, so he focuses on his surroundings trying to make sense of them. Did Poe take them to the aquarium?
“Oh, my dear…” Poe cups his cheek and caresses it with his thumbs as he explains himself. “I could tell how badly we both wanted this to happen, so I thought that maybe I could take you to the aquarium by other mediums… I had never been to Yokohama’s so I was not sure if I could write about it… But when you briefly mentioned how long it had been, it occurred to me that I could make it about the one I had already been to. I did take the creative freedom of making it free and having no other visitors, too.”
“Is this the place you talked about? From the states?” Ed nods in reply. “And when did you write all of this?”
“I took care of it while you napped on the train, dea…” He doesn’t get to finish given that Ranpo is instantly hugging him and shaking his body.
“You’re the best, you’re the best ever! You’re so amazing, oh my god, I can’t believe you!” He rants. “Oh my god, we have to see all of it! I need to tell you all I learnt about all the fishes, oh my, come on, Ed, let’s get going, we need to see everything!”
“All you learnt?” He fondly asks. That quiets down Ranpo’s rambling and makes him flush. “I was under the impression great detectives needn’t study much…”
“But great boyfriends do!” That gets a giggle out of Poe. “About that, Ed… Do we need to solve a mystery to leave this? That’s how it usually works.”
“It’s an easy one this time, dear.” The other takes a key out of his pocket. “We just need to find the door to this key and lock it, but I know where it is. We have all the time in the world, so… Where do you wanna start?”
“Hm… Can we see the otters first?”
They reach the otters’ area easily, with Poe having prepared a map in advance somehow. Maybe he just wrote about it, Ranpo muses… He makes a mental note to ask about his ability later, but for now, he just wants to press his hands and face against the crystal as he stares at the cute tiny animals playing in the water. Poe is standing by his side, looking at them as well, and soon he gets mesmerised by his boyfriend’s happy face more than about the otters. He wonders if they remind the others of Karl and smile fondly at the thought.
“Did you know they have the thickest fur in the world?” He asks.
“The otters?”
“Mhm! And they can manipulate tools, they’re very smart. They use stones to hunt, they’re very good hunters and a keystone species thanks to that. Oh, and they sleep holding hands!” He grabs Poe’s hands as he says that. “Just like us!”
“That is so adorable…”
“Not as much as you, though! Wanna see the belugas now?” He asks, not letting go of the other’s hands.
“Which ones are those?” Right, Poe might now know all the fish names in a foreign language…
“They’re like… A whale with a bump on their head?”
“Oh! I know those! Over there!”
There’s about 20 of them swimming in some sort of entrancing, magical dance that Ranpo can’t pull his eyes off from. He barely registers that his mouth is wide open as he stares.
“Nothing to share about these ones?” Poe tells him,
“Oh, right, right…” He takes a deep breath and points at them. “They can swim backwards, you know? I think the small one over there is doing it! Oh, look, look! That one’s going up! They can dive for about 25 minutes only, which for a mammal it’s a lot. They are similar to narwhals, do you know them?” Poe shakes his head no. “They’re like whales with horns! Narwhals and belugas are the only members of the monodontidae family. Also, did you know they don’t turn white till they’re like 8 years old? Their calves are born grey! They can also turn their head from side to side, up and down and stuff… They can even change the way their bump looks, can you believe it?”
“Unbelievable to say the least… Are there any other amazing animals li…?”
“The jellyfish! Can we go see them? Can we? Where are they?” He can barely hold his excitement as he is driven to a tank full of “moon jelly,” as stated by a panel. “Look at them! They are precious, oh my god, they are so beautiful.”
“As much as you.” It’s only a whisper, but Ranpo still blushes when he hears Poe’s words.
“Do…” He clears his voice. “Do you know that they’re 95% water? They barely have organs too.”
“Oh, Lord, how do they even manage?”
“Great that you ask because they can actually reset their biological clock! If they get injured, they can turn into a polyp again and restart! Isn’t that super amazing?”
“Woah, do you think there’s anyone with an ability like that? Changing your age?”
“Damn, that seems like a great ability. If there’s any, I hope I never run into them when they’re in a bad mood.”
“Heh, what are the odds? Look, there’s manta rays over there, wanna see?”
He’d been studying about those as well, so he’s quick to say yes.
“Manta rays are super smart, you know?” He tells Poe as they both stare at how a bunch of way cuter than he expected animals swim around. “They are the fish with the largest brain to body size ratio!”
“Oh, they must be just like you, then.” Ranpo doesn’t have it in him to reply with anything verbal, so he just hugs closer to Ed as he blushes.
“Thank you…” He ends up whispering. “They also have… Their dots are individual to each of them.”
“Oh, so smart and special? Sounds like my type.”
“Ed… You’re gonna make me blush.” He genuinely says, trying to hide his face again when two of the other’s soft fingers lift his chin and make him look into Poe’s eyes.
“Seems like it’s too late to warn me, mister. You look quite blushed to me.”
“Wonder why…” He tries to escape the other’s gaze. “What are you gonna do about it?”
“Hm… Maybe a distraction will help… What do you say about seeing those whale sharks?”
“But I barely googled anything about those…” He didn’t think he would need to, given there’s none in Yokohama.
“That’s alright, love, we can just stare at them. As long as I’m with you, I will enjoy it.” Yet, Ranpo remains unsure, so Poe opts to show him the key again. “Plus, we still have a mystery to solve… What if the answer was there?”
And how could the greatest detective back up from a mystery?
…
The mystery is completely forgotten as soon as they find the tanks with the two whale sharks, which Poe has called Taroko and Yushang. They swim together, one behind the other, both taking up a lot of space in a way that feels majestical and moving the water gracefully with their elegant movements. Other than Poe standing by his side, he thinks they are the most beautiful thing he’s ever witnessed.
He’s only there because of Ed, whose hand is still in his. They haven’t let go of each other ever since he first held his hand at the otters tank, and he hopes they remain like that. His touch and his soft skin is the best feeling in the world, so he doesn’t want to lose it. He loves this, he loves staring into the hypnotic dance of the two sharks as his thumb draws lazy circles on Poe’s milky skin. He loves everything that happens when Poe is by his side and…
“I love you.” He whispers, barely realising it. It only registers in his head once it’s done, when he feels Poe’s grip tense and he looks up to see him redder than he ever has.
“Come again? I didn’t… Don’t know what that means…”
Ranpo tilts his head. Is he playing dumb? He has to know what it means, everyone learns that sentence early in any language for some reason. Maybe this is him giving Ranpo a chance to back up. Perhaps he wants to make sure he truly means it… And he does.
“I love you, Ed. I really do.” He speaks again, smiling at the other.
“I love you so much too.”
What a beautiful day to be in love, he thinks as they close the distance between them in a kiss, totally forgetting about the oceanic wonders in front of them and the mystery within their hands. What a beautiful day to love Poe.